There are those who would build the Temple,And those who prefer that the Temple should not be built.In the days of Nehemiah the ProphetThere was no exception to the general rule.In Shushan the palace, in the month Nisan,He served the wine to the king Artaxerxes,And he grieved for the broken city, Jerusalem;And the King gave him leave to departThat he might rebuild the city.So he went, with a few, to Jerusalem,And there, by the dragon’s well, by the dung gate,By the fountain gate, by the king’s pool,Jerusalem lay waste, consumed with fire;No place for a beast to pass.There were enemies without to destroy him,And spies and self-seekers within,When he and his men laid their hands to rebuilding the wallSo they built as men must buildWith the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other.

T.S. Eliot, Choruses from “The Rock”, Part IV

Understand: There was nothing about this season, this golden, precious run of games, which was a failure. We fell at the penultimate hurdle. It happens. The scrapes will heal; it will be up to us to keep the memories alive. It will be important we keep these memories alive.

Because surely 2017 will go down in Detroit City Football Club history as end of the pre-history of City. Like childhood, these memories will acquire the golden hue of myth – Mondi with the right foot, forever, amen – as they should. Cyrus gliding through the middle. Dave, exultant, arms outstretched before us. Sebby’s windmill. Shawn’s scoring streak. Spencer Glass with the volley. Lansing 3-3 City. Bakie lofting through-balls. Mondi with the right foot. Mondi with the RIGHT FOOT!! We will need our mythology, our grounding stories, for the onslaught we are about to face.

Until recently, we’ve been nothing more than a nuisance to MLS’ designs on the Detroit market – but the naked avarice of the Gilbert/Gores cash-grab, combined with the fact that MLS’ recent history in populated markets is more colonial than cohabitational, have suddenly brought our opposing ethos into sharp focus as an alternative. We stand at Ground Zero of the enclosure of American soccer pastureland; we serfs would do well to prepare ourselves for the conflict to come.

Unlike those earlier serfs, we have multiple tools available to persuade against the hedging of our shared pasture. We have begun by demonstrating – to interested outside parties, in a way not possible in pastoral England – that our common land is well-maintained; no usufruct challenge here. How many MLS clubs turn a profit, again?

Then there’s the cultural advantage tied up in the fact that basically any recording of Northern Guard shows that it’s a party you’d probably like to be part of, a multi-hued spectrum of nutjobs and halfway-ins and ironic eye-rollers and pure lookie-loos – everyone fits somewhere. And that’s not by accident. There’s no test. There’s no preferred type. Be who you are (not a dick!), stand up, hoot for City: Here endeth the rulebook. And the whole world knows that already! Would it have mattered during Enclosure if the Midlands village could broadcast a highlight reel of its really bangin’ harvest festival?

We have something very special here, something uniquely special in the wide and mind-blowingly various world of football: A locally-owned, community-focused football club in the United States which is wildly successful almost entirely on its own terms. If it’s to remain so, we all have a lot of work ahead of us. And the opposition won’t be content to play it clean and lose; more hurdles await us.

We are intertwined, though. We bear each other up. We can do this. We must do this. It won’t be easy. But what – worth doing – is?

I looked up as we entered Keyworth, realizing for the first time just how large the gathering storm clouds were. “You might get that first rain game you’ve been wanting after all,” I joked to BeyondTheFail, pointing at the sky. “It looks pretty bad up there.”“It’s not going to happen,” MentalAbsence said. He’d driven from Ann Arbor to support City; for him the match wasn’t just about playoffs or the #1 spot, but gloating rights over coworkers who had chosen the wrong side. “I’ve been watching the forecast, and the odds have been going steadily down throughout the day.” I wasn’t convinced, but I also wasn’t concerned. I’d stood through 90 minutes of rain at the Lawrence Tech game before the season started; a little rain wasn’t going to bring me down.

At the three minute mark we felt the first drops. By minute four, it was starting to come down. Minute five would never come that night. At 4:51 the lightning strikes stopped the clock, and all hell broke loose as the rain poured down. For the people on the family side it was the end of the night; a time to go back home, maybe change your shirt, and catch up on some Netflix. We weren’t on the family side, though. We were the Guard, and we couldn’t leave until the officials called it off. The lightning couldn’t stop us; the storm would rend the fabric of reality before it could destroy our enthusiasm. If time wasn’t obligated to follow the rules, why should anything else?

The songs continued. The chants persevered. You couldn’t do much for the smoke, but the air was thick just the same. There wasn’t a ball on the pitch, but that didn’t mean your eyes could take a break- signs of what the FO was doing, cues from the capos, the occasional lightning strike all demanded attention, shaping hopes, dreams, energy. And then there were the puddles. First a few small ones, then some larger ones, slowly connecting to each other until Keyworth began to resemble one of those shallow suburban ponds more than a proper field.

“They can’t play on this,” Amanda told us from her capo stand. “It’s not safe.” Fair enough. But the Guard didn’t seem to recognize terms like “inevitable” whether they came from hated rivals or their own ranks, so the fact that cancellation was certain didn’t seem to matter. The songs kept going. We were still in the stands. At least one of the owners came out with his staff and an array of pushbrooms and squeegees, determined to shove the water out of the way while supporters bailed it out with buckets. I couldn’t say whether any of us actually expected this to work. The storm had slowed down but it wasn’t done by any means, and I hadn’t been exaggerating to call Keyworth a pond. Rather than get my hopes up, the whole thing just seemed to add to the spectacle- who ever heard of stopping a storm with a broom?

An hour into it, the madness seemed to set in as I started thinking about which parts of my clothing might be ruined by all this. (My belt, as it turned out.) The storm had seemingly shunted us into a parallel reality, a mirror universe where things that you would have never given a second thought to became tantalizingly possible. Several of the capo stands were vacated; what would happen if I climbed up on one to help keep the singing going? I decided not to find out; I didn’t want to set that precedent for everyone else, or risk being known as the one you had to watch out for. One supporter invaded the pitch, running around with a flag. Security didn’t seem to like that. Perhaps reality still had its limits.

Then Sarge called for a supporter 11 vs 11 match. I held my breath. Surely that could never happen. Could it? If it was ever going to happen, it would be these people, on this night. He called for it again. And suddenly, people were hopping over the sidelines, taking positions. Someone got a ball- I still don’t know how- and the game began, until security decided to red card the entirety of both squads.

The night wound down eventually. For the first time I stayed until everything was put away, then bid everyone goodnight as BeyondTheFail and I walked back to our car. Less than five minutes of soccer had been played, but we still had a great time and looked forward to the match resuming on Tuesday.

When I arrived home from work that Tuesday, I heard the storms begin again. No time to think about it- I needed to cook dinner so that we could get to Fowling and hang out. I’d just have to trust that things would work out and we’d complete the game this time. By the time we finished eating, the storms ceased; BeyondTheFail checked Twitter and saw the photos being posted of Keyworth having once again taken on water. We packed it in and drove to Fowling. 4:52 was not going to be delayed any further if we could do anything about it.

We parked, I checked my phone, and I got the summons to duty via Twitter DM. The match had to go on, and it was our job to make sure it happened this time. We marched to Keyworth nearly two hours before our usual time and waded in barefoot. The next hour would be filled with contradictions in my head: the determination to fix Keyworth mixed with the fear that the match would be canceled again; frustration whenever a puddle got too difficult to bail without the corresponding realization that it meant we were succeeding at our goal. The hypnosis of manual labor had me so focused on the next bucketful of water that I couldn’t remember where we had been five minutes ago or how much progress we’d made until much later, when looking backwards at the dry parts would break the spell.

Despite it all, I was in relatively good spirits throughout the experience. “We’re not going to need axes to chop down that tree- a bucket will do nicely,” I joked. No response. Maybe it was the humidity, maybe it was the timing. Later it came time to name the small lake we had created with our buckets. “Sad Noah’s tears?” Also no response. Maybe I’m not as funny as I like to think I am. Whatever, that isn’t why we’re here.

Eventually the buckets, squeegees, and brooms did their job. I set mine down and walked off the pitch, cleaning my feet as best as I could before walking back to Fowling, leaving BeyondTheFail behind at Keyworth. I met MentalAbsence at Fowling, folded some hymnals, and headed out to march. But it seemed that 4:51’s effects on reality hadn’t lifted yet. We only marched once per match, after all. You couldn’t get more than one speech from Sarge in the same match; fate itself intervened to make him late. We sang Dirty Old Town twice instead; afterwards, there was nothing fate could do to stop us from taking the rest of that second march. And then finally, the clock resumed. The moment between 4:51 and 4:52 was the longest a second had ever taken in my life; the fight had taken several days, but we had conquered that lightning storm after all, in our own way.

In the end the oak tree lived another day- buckets wouldn’t knock it down. After the match, you could feel how tired every player and supporter was, the weekend-long ordeal having demanded our full energy just to see the match to completion at all.

It was the first time I had watched City lose a game. And yet on some level, I’d never felt so victorious in my life.

Detroit City FC is an amateur soccer club that has experienced a growing fan base since our birth in 2012. The owners of our club have aspirations of taking our club professional and I have no doubt in my mind that they will do so in the next year or two. Our club is supported by many, but the most boisterous of the bunch is the infamous Northern Guard Supporters (NGS). I am proudly a part of this wonderful group. NGS is an independent supporter group (SG) of Detroit City FC that our foes love to hate. We bring out the best in our opponents. We pump adrenaline into their blood every time we walk on to their grounds or they walk into Keyworth. When we are in the mix, we can be sure that we will get the best performance on the pitch from our boys and the opposition. The same can be said with opposing SG’s who we cross paths with. We bring out the best in them. Right now, I’m pissing some of them off by saying just that. They love to try to shut us up, but it doesn’t take long to find out that’s impossible. We don’t ever shut up. That is true whether we are in the stands or flooding your feed on Twitter. What comes along with this passion for our City, is a little banter. I simply call it shit talking. To me, it’s simply an extension of a game called ‘The Dozens’ that I picked up as a young boy in Detroit. You know, “Ya Momma’s so skinny she could hoola hoop with a Cheerio” kind of stuff. To me, the “banter” of soccer Twitter is nothing more than this. However, some people are built for it more than others. There are some delicate supporters out there that should be covered in bubble wrap.
Recently, I was reminded that some people don’t really understand the dynamics and history that exist in Detroit. Either that, or they understand it and like to exploit it for a “like” or a retweet on social media. I’ll get to the details of that in a minute. First, it’s important to know that when I was growing up, there was a very important rule that I learned when playing ‘The Dozens.’ In retrospect, it is simple in-group/out-group dynamics that govern those rules. I could lay a Momma joke on someone, but there would be some delicate lines to navigate at times. For example, when I was young I had a friend that was pretty poor. I joked around about that because I too was fairly poor. We could joke about that amongst ourselves, within that circle. That friend and I could joke about that because it was a common experience we had. I could deliver a line like, “Your Mama is so poor, she waves around a Popsicle and calls it air conditioning” and nothing would be seen as below the belt. It would be understood as joking. It’s almost like a coping mechanism among those growing up poor to joke about it. However, let’s say the same line was delivered by a relatively privileged kid from the suburbs that never had to worry about poverty. He says it to me or my friend. It would have hit a sore spot. That kid may have even gotten an ass whooping when I was younger. I’m not condoning violence, I’m just saying, it probably would have happened. So what does this all mean? Hear me out…

When the Northern Guard Supporters emerged, many used to (and still do) take pot shots at the city of Detroit. You might be engaged in banter back and forth with opposition about soccer and a typical response might be something along the lines of “…Detroit is a dead city anyway.” The NGS response to this was, “Okay. If our city’s dead, we’ll be the walking dead.” This is a large reason to why the skull images are so plentiful within NGS. This is the roots of the skull masks even though many of us didn’t know that until now. NGS, those from Detroit and the broader region, in solidarity, chose to symbolically stand side-by-side with a city that was being ridiculed for its despair. It consciously chose to be an ally in the fight, not an opportunistic bystander. Additionally, as a club, Detroit City FC emerged out of the Detroit City Futbol League. This was a league that was created by one of our owners with the purpose of connecting Detroit neighborhoods for community organizing efforts. The idea was to create networking opportunities for the purpose of uplifting the city of Detroit. Out of this league, the five owners of our club came together and built an add-on to this movement known as Detroit City FC. This club would be intimately tied to the city of Detroit and serve as a source of positive energy. It has done just that in the 5+ years of our existence. The DNA of our club is quintessentially Detroit. It is undeniable. It never had anything to do with where our stadium was. Relying on such a superficial notion of connection such as that is futile anyway. When we moved from Cass Tech HS in Detroit to Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, nothing changed. The DNA didn’t change. The foundation had already been laid. Hamtramck, an enclave of Detroit, is intimately intertwined with the life of the city of Detroit. However, people from the outside-in don’t often understand this. Their ignorance to this and the roots of our club come out when they take shots about us playing in a stadium in Hamtramck.

Recently, I found myself listening to a podcast that was created by a second rate supporter group on the west side of the state. On multiple occasions, this podcast thought it was clever to point out that our club played in Hamtramck, but was called Detroit City FC. I suppose that it somehow was intended to diminish our “street cred.” Maybe having a stadium in a Detroit enclave was supposed to make us “less scary” than having one outside of that enclave. My guess is that it is there imagination of what is and isn’t Detroit getting the best of them. Little do they know, where our stadium is, never had much to do with the Spirit of Detroit. You see, this is something they don’t have a reference for so it’s easy to poke fun at. People make fun of what they don’t understand sometimes. At the end of the day, it is petty, naïve, and ill-informed. This is actually one of those things that outsiders typically do that really hits me in a particular spot. Why? Most of the time, what these people are doing is attempting to exploit regional divides in metro Detroit in order to get some laughs. It’s kind of like that privileged kid I was talking about earlier making jokes about the poor kid. There are boundaries. The fact that a city has roughly 40% of their residents living in poverty is nothing to joke about and nothing to build “street cred” off of. The fact that regional divides across race and class have contributed to that kind of social and economic decline is nothing to joke about either. That’s what is being done when they emphasize we play in Hamtramck.

There is a history in Detroit of people co-opting the sexiness and grittiness of the Detroit name just to make a quick buck or get street cred. We’ve seen recent initiatives in the “New Detroit” movement to do just this. Hell, the “New Detroit” movement even co-opted the “New Detroit” name as it was originally a coalition created in response to the 1967 uprising. New Detroit, Inc. originally came together to address racial disparity and tension post-‘67. We’ve seen businesses that waited on the sidelines as the city of Detroit struggled and as soon as things began to turn around economically, they opportunistically tossed their investments in the fold. We’ve even seen other soccer clubs with little-to-no connection to assisting the revitalization efforts of Detroit set up shop 30 miles away and call themselves “New Detroit”. Those who genuinely care about the well-being of this city tend to see right through those efforts. When you point out that Detroit City FC plays in Hamtramck, you are trying to place us in the category with those above. Our history of the past and that currently is being made, tells a very different story about this club and its connection to Detroit though.

What’s the point of all this? Detroit City is Detroit. We currently play in a stadium in Hamtramck, yes. It doesn’t make a difference. Detroit and Hamtramck are one. Our roots. Our mission. Our vision. Our spirit. It’s all Detroit, through and through. This club and supporter group has planted seeds to bridges that are doing much-needed work in our region. We are connecting the city dweller to the suburbanite to the country boy/girl. We are connecting people across socioeconomic lines. We are building bridges across race. We are connecting people across faiths and sexualities. Detroit is our base. We will defend her to the end. We stand side-by-side with her cousin, Hamtramck as well. They are part of the same bloodline. Their struggle has been one in the same. I recommend that you don’t poke at that. You don’t want to wake up that beast.

As for my fellow supporters of Detroit City FC, it’s important to remember this history and what we stand for. Whether you are from the city of Detroit, an expatriate, a repatriate, from the broader region of Detroit, or simply carry the Spirit of Detroit with you, we are one. We have many differences, but we have one common connection and that is to Up The Fucking City aka #UTFC. That city is not just Detroit City FC, it is the city of Detroit. They are one in the same. We should never forget that and make sure our foes don’t either.

It’s unusual to me meeting a foreigner who thinks highly of Detroit. Maybe in days gone by, they would hear Detroit and think of Motown, cars, and the American Dream. More recently, the blight, bankruptcy, and corruption of our city make headlines. When I was abroad, I’d say I was from Detroit and get questions like:

Do you have black friends?

Have you ever seen someone shot?

Do you own a gun?

When I talked about this with my sister, she said when she told someone in the Middle East she was from Detroit their response was “I’m sorry.”

This weekend with Glentoran, I expected them to be nice and embrace our city for what we see in it. We might have to talk about bankruptcy and crime a little, but I was prepared to offer up the DIA and Belle Isle and a host of other wonderful sites in Detroit for them. As if I had to prove that my city is not shitty.

As DCFC supporters, we see Detroit through different eyes sometimes. We embrace the grit and celebrate the survivors. We see promise in the future. Many city supporters live, work, and play within the city limits. We are Detroit and it’s hard sometimes to go outside the bubble of Detroit-love and realize that most people don’t believe us. We are hopeful in the future, because we know our history, our struggle, and our determination, but most observers miss at least one of the pieces and doubt us.

I didn’t have to make a case for Detroit a single time this weekend.

As I stopped to take in the conversations around me at the 50th Anniversary celebration, at Fowling, at Whiskey in the Jar, I heard only glorious Glentoran drinking songs, gratitude for being recognized and welcomed, and excitement about being in Detroit for the match.

It didn’t take a single breath to convince a Glenman that Detroit is something special.

They already knew that.

I learned this weekend that Glentoran holds its own legacy inextricably intertwined with Detroit.

Their supporters and the club hold the summer of 1967 in the highest regards. The men who played as the Detroit Cougars are legendary. Talking with the former players and the supporters who remembered the Detroit Cougars was amazing. However, it was even more incredible to hear the stories from supporters who weren’t alive and have had the legends passed down from the grandfathers to their fathers to them.

I thanked more than one Glenman this weekend, and now I would like to thank you all. It filled my heart to the top this weekend to realize another club halfway around the world kept alive a legacy of my hometown for over 50 years. That despite the headlines in the newspapers, Detroit has maintained its honorary place in the club’s lore.

This weekend, I can only hope that we have added to the legacy. As the Belfast Telegraph reporter said “Glentoran and DetroitCity FC story tells us our teams are more than a club. They are families, communities where lifelong friendships are born.” This weekend celebrated the past, but it was also a beginning. A beginning for new stories, new legends, and most importantly, new friendships.

Detroit may have forgotten about the Detroit Cougars for a long time, but Belfast never did and now I never will.

Editor’s Note: Although Just Can’t Get Enough City is not strictly a Northern Guard Supporter media outlet, many contributors are affiliated with the Guard. Red is one of those people. In this piece, as always, Red is speaking on his own behalf and does not speak on behalf of the entire SG. This is just Red’s perspective. [roll Law & Order theme music]

Stepping into a new community is scary for many, but it can be a beautiful struggle to finding your place. Our deepest insecurities can surface as we step into the darkness of a new group of people. This is especially true when it is a group of people like the Northern Guard Supporters (NGS.) From the outside-in, for some people, NGS can be very very intimidating. For example, I can only imagine what goes through the minds of those delicate little boys and girls in the Sons of Ransom when Lansing United comes to Detroit. My heart goes out to them. For other people though, like me, it was more of a cautionary tale getting acquainted with NGS. The boisterous, often vulgar, and in-your-face culture that dominates NGS was not new for me. That was not intimidating to me. I grew up in a family that had a very similar culture in ways to NGS. There are many introverts, but the extroverts stand out and the introverts come out of their skin when passionate about something. Many of NGS, like my family, are not afraid to speak their mind. However, I actually spent a whole season on the periphery of the hardcore supporters of the Detroit City’s faithful known as the Northern Guard Supporters.

I took my time because honestly, sometimes these supporter groups can often morph into nasty collective behavior. They are often infested with racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, etc. Not only that, during big events, large groups who gather for sporting events can come in for games, pretty much shit on the city, and leave, much like what we can see on the Tiger’s opening day. I didn’t want to be a part of that. I am a native Detroiter. I love my hometown and I want to see her taken care of.

During my first full season supporting the club, I remember marching to Cass Tech with the group before the match. I was not connected at all with anyone. I would show up early to Harry’s by myself, have a few pints, and just observe people. I was very low key. However, one early memory I had was during the march, as we approached Cass Tech for a Friday evening match, I observed a couple of young adults on the steps of the front entrance of Cass Tech drinking beer. Immediately, I was turned off because as they were drinking their beer, teenaged kids were leaving their afterschool programs and immediately encountering this. I was upset because I knew that these adults wouldn’t be doing this at a suburban high school in such a carefree way. For me, it played into the usual storyline of people coming from the outside-in and shitting on my beautiful city and her beautiful people. I remember going home that evening and messaging the NGS about my concerns. I don’t recall being too accusatory, but taking a tone that urged for something to be done. This scene, to me, was not consistent with what the SG claimed to be about. I didn’t let this turn me away though. I stuck in there because, at the end of the day, these people very well may not have been affiliated with NGS. I didn’t want to pin it on them, but I thought they’d have the influence to do something. It very well could have just been some casual fans that needed some correction. The next home match, I was pleased to see that there was a very casual adjustment that was made to help avoid this from happening. I didn’t see it happen again. It seemed that the concern was taken in and something was done. I could appreciate that.

I observed more and more of the supporter community for Detroit City FC throughout that last season at Cass Tech. The more I watched, the more I became comfortable with what this group stood for. There were things like explicit support for refugees, anti-racist sentiments, and non-judgement regarding a lot of things. I decided in that off season that I would jump all in as we moved Detroit City FC to Keyworth Stadium. I decided that I was going to declare myself part of the Northern Guard Supporters that season. I was going in. They had my loyalty and I was going to stick with it, unlike a Milwaukee soccer supporter. Getting out and volunteering some time to assist with the rehab of the stadium helped me to get acquainted with some people who will likely be life-long friends. Then when I decided to show up at that first pre-season friendly in Berkley, people like Mama Cass and Razor helped me get acquainted with some very simple gestures.

Four small things that made a huge difference were:

Mama Cass didn’t let me sit by myself at the bar during pre-match.

Razor took control of my newly created twitter and connected me to essentials

Mama Cass gave me a flag to carry for the march and throughout the match. (Creating a flag waving mad man)

People talked to me.

These are the things that people did for me. It was very simple. I was pulled in, I was connected, and I was engaged. I would encourage my fellow supporters to find small ways like this to welcome newcomers. Here’s the thing though, even if a few people did some simple things that opened up some doors of comfort to me in this community, it would not have made a difference if I didn’t put in the effort myself. I had to be the one to step out. I had to step into the darkness and confront this raggedy-ass boogie man they call the Northern Guard. You have to puff your chest out, grab the boogie man by his ankles, pull him from under your bed, and throw his punk ass out of the window. Here are some less vulgar suggestions for finding your way and becoming a part of the Northern Guard from the perspective of a relatively new guy. Like I said, I was taken care of and now it’s my turn to take care of you (*smirk… that’s what she said). Okay…okay, for real though, here are four quick and simple things I suggest:

Be yourself. You can’t say that you are not accepted in a community if you never decide to actually bring YOU to the community. Bring you and all your perfect imperfections. It’s understandable that some are still finding themselves like the Milwaukee Barons. If you’re lost and finding yourself like them, bring that person to the table. Look, I’m a pretty down to earth guy, I’m friendly, I’m pretty smart, and my mom says I’m handsome. I’m passionate about a few things and can get riled up, but for the most part, I joke around a lot and like to have fun. However, I can be pretty fucking weird too. For example, I was nicknamed Foil this past off-season and took a wild psychedelic journey with that character for a bit. I ended up sending him up to space because he was scaring a few people away. That’s a story for another time over a beer, but the point is that even in my weirdest moments I brought myself to the table. Don’t be afraid to embrace what you believe are your “shortcomings” as well. At the end of the day, at least you’re not an FC Indiana supporter. I’m just joking. There’s no such thing as that.

Remember that there are many chapters to the book of developing community. Don’t get stuck on a few “sentences.” Those “sentences” might be that experience you had with that one guy who was an asshole that one time. Who knows, maybe he was just having a bad day. Maybe he’s just an asshole and you have to know your limits with that person. It’s okay. Or maybe you said or did something that you are feeling insecure about. Give people and yourself a break. Be in this for the long haul and remember our common cause. We are building a club through building community. They are intertwined. Nobody remembers the speed bump in Columbus, OH by the time they’ve reached Detroit. Fuck Ohio, by the way. Unless you have to, don’t drive through that state.

Find your niche and pitch in. The best way to embed yourself into a new community is to embed yourself into that new community. Of course, there are exceptions like defected Kalamazoo FC supporters. They don’t have a concept of community because their club has never had one. You can embed yourself here with NGS though. Just find something you want to do to help out. It doesn’t have to be a huge contribution. When you jump in, people might be suspicious of you. People might try to figure you out for a bit. People might ridiculously overcompensate to try to help you fit in and in turn, make it more awkward. Just ride the wave and let them work through what they are working through. Just keep bringing you to the table. Consistently bring YOU. Find a wave to ride that is of interest to you and ride it. Find a small group of people you connect with and stick with them. It will all unfold through the life cycle of a year with the Guard. You will begin to see how your little ol’ contribution adds to the whole in a glorious way.

Take your time, relax. Unlike star players from the Michigan Stars, the Northern Guard Supporters aren’t going anywhere. Acclimate at your own pace and don’t worry if you’re not “Captain Save ‘Em All” within the first month. This was a hard one for me because I move fast when I make a decision to connect to a community. That’s just how I roll though. I remember shaking hands with The Duke and one minute later, he received a follower notification from me on the Twitters at that first pre-season match last year. He turned to me at the merchandise table and said, “You move pretty fast, huh?” Despite the fact that Razor was the one who took control of my Twitter account, it was true. I can move fast, I can be a little overwhelming. I just get excited and some time, you have to ignore me a little. Especially if you are the type to get easily overwhelmed.

Well, as Forrest Gump said “That is all I have to say about that.” If you are new to the crew or want to be. Consider me one of your options to connect with on match day. It will likely be touch and go initially with me right before a match, but I’ll help get you connected. If you want to talk to someone less drunk before a match, then there are plenty of options. On a serious note, I will be glad to help you get connected and do for you what was done for me. The Northern Guard Supporters are seriously a good group of folk. We can be some of the most caring, selfless, and community-oriented people that you’ll ever meet. We don’t just represent support for Detroit City FC and what it is becoming. We support the city of Detroit. We support the city of Hamtramck. We uplift, protect, and defend our club and the community we play in and for. This isn’t just about soccer. It’s building community. Give us a taste. You will see what we are about. You just have to stick around and not block us like AFC Cleveland on Twitter.

At the end of the day, no one likes us and we don’t care, but we think you’re alright. Come and Get It!

My first big soccer experience was when I went to a Champions League game in Prague in 2009. I attended several Slavia Praha games for a few years after that, and it was in 2012 when I first encountered NGS and Detroit City FC. I could never get out to a game, though, because despite being a native of Michigan, I had joined the Army. During my time in the Army, I attended soccer games around the country and I saw how passionately soccer supporters cheered for their clubs for the full 90 minutes. I could never get attached to these teams because even though I lived and visited these places my heart was always in Michigan.

Late 2015 I moved back home to be closer with family. That is when my opportunity to become a true supporter finally presented itself. I knew about the Northern Guard, Detroit City and the success they were having in being true to supporting the community and being a passionate supporter group. I took my first step to becoming a supporter and not just a fan by putting the word out on twitter of my interest in going to soccer games. That is when the kind words came rolling in. That encouraged me to buy season tickets, even though I had never been to a game.

I was so excited and encouraged to go to a game that I decided to attend my first game in Saginaw. Combine being the only soccer fan that I know with my PTSD and I was really nervous that day. I knew of people from social media but I didn’t know anyone personally. I made the drive up to Saginaw from southern Lapeer County to Star Dust. I had in my mind that I was going to try to meet as many people as I could and learn about the way things were done within NGS before the regular season began. But the real fun didn’t start until the game began at SVSU.

The nervousness I had to meet everyone and see how they do things disappeared before the game even began. At this point I was going with the flow and seeing where it would take me. People I had never met before were walking up, shaking my hand, even some hugs and introducing themselves to me. There are many kinds of people in the stands that all knew what to do and when to do it. I didn’t pay attention to who was on my left and my right. We were all there for the same reason.

Now I went into the game totally expecting to be an observer. Just standing on the sidelines trying to learn the songs and watch the game. Boy, was I wrong. Almost as soon as the game began I was thrown into the crowd and learning as I go. At first I was focusing on trying to keep up with the fellow supporters more than what was happening on the field. It did not take long until I was singing along and feeling like I was a part of one big happy family. I had accomplished my goal in meeting almost everyone and getting a thorough introduction to the Northern Guard. I was there just to watch a match but that turned into a fun afternoon filled with song and dance.

At the end to the game I shocked to hear that people were not in “supporter shape”. I found that amusing from my experience I thought everyone did a great job. I found myself thinking If that was not as good as mid-season form then how are they at home during a regular season game? I will soon get that answer when I attend the first match in Hamtramck. If the first preseason game was just a teaser, then I look forward to seeing what is in store real soon.

Each year the first City match I attend tends to build on all the emotions of the previous years. I’m thankful the long offseason is over and I’ll be back in the stands, singing and cheering again. I’m grateful that the club is still here, as we’ve seen other NPSL clubs fold and new ones spring up. I’m happy I get to share the new season with the friends who are still with me from that first game in 2012 when we didn’t know any better and wore US Soccer gear.

I woke up early today and walked my dog in the bleak predawn rain thinking today would be another freezing, miserably cold preseason affair. I remembered a particularly cold game in Berkley where I loaned my socks to my wife (whose feet were freezing). Today, I laid out a rouge City sweatshirt and jacket and went back to bed. Waking up to the brilliant blue sky felt like a preseason miracle and I headed north in shorts.

Braddock Field stands at Saginaw Valley has to be one of the smallest I’ve visited while supporting City, and I climbed to the closest back row I’ve probably ever stood in. To my left stood a man with a DCFC Brighton flag and to my right were some kids in rouge pants soaking up the atmosphere. A woman with a cane Tetrised just as hard as anyone next to me. We got splashed by the water in Mama Cass’s scarf, which we were glad to learn wasn’t sweat. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say I’m happy to be back in the stands.

The play on the field quickly reminded me why I love roving across the state for Le Rouge. The passion from Captain David Edwardson was quickly evident as both teams got into a typically chippy NPSL-style match. Our outrage was calmed by Jeff Adkins’ penalty and another Tommy Catalano goal helped soothe the sting of the Cardinals’ penalty kick. The team played passionately for a preseason match, with hard tackles on defense and strong runs on offense. To their credit, the Cardinals made some good runs and gave our defense a good test. If City keeps up the form they showed today, I am certain we’re all in for another entertaining season!

Sometime this season, I started posting a series of postgame notes on Twitter. They are not so much game analysis as takeaways from the game experience. These were posted last night after the loss to Sharta to end the 2016 NPSL campaign.

1. Hamtramck Reserve Police, the ones who have been running traffic and such all season, are fantastic. We owe them pizza.

2. I’m incredibly impressed by how our club can’t count. There was not 1,000 fewer people than the opener. 500, sure.

3. Re: season/team performance. Meh. Still, I’d take that particular Open Cup win over a first round playoff loss any day.

4. Our region was a LOT better than we expected this year. So we need to learn and grow and not underestimate next year. I’ll give 2016/NPSL a pass with Keyworth and Open cup, but no excuses next year.

5. Despite the results, our boys gave their all, every match. No shame. Every guy on our roster has earned their place.

6. I’m incredibly grateful for our club. There is room for growth, yes, but what we have built together is incredible.

7. The charities the club supports are all lovely, local things that do good and make my heart proud. Keep it up.

8. Tonight’s half time was special. NGS. I was WEEPING when we did the high five line. Your love and support for everyone means so, so much.

9. And NGS, the way folks have been accepted, joined in, and found their place in the section is beautiful.

10. You truly do not know how much of an honor it is to be in front of you. And yeah, I’m happy crying right now typing this. Deal.

11. What we have all built, together, continues to defy expectations and find room for more people. Keep. it. Up.

12. To my beloved South Section. My goodness. You are beautiful and your passion inspires me every minute of the match.

13. To @AgainstJackie. You capoed the Dirty South with brilliance tonight. Honored to have you on a ladder next to me.

One of football’s really fascinating truths is that different people, in different situations, play this very simple game in wildly differing ways. Variations in coverage of space, in tempo, in attacking approach show football as a vicious physical battle, or a knife-edge concentration duel, or a teasing, sloe-eyed dance. The mental ecosystem of football is a verdant forest of ideas, all straining toward the Sun of the football universe: Winning the f–king game.

What they aren’t, emphatically, is thought experiments. Football styles emerge naturally from the terroir of their birth – the conditions on the field. The Scandinavian long-ball style didn’t come to be from any lack of touch; on rough, often snow-covered fields, hammering it to a finisher was a rational choice, not an aesthetic one. The classic laconic style we generally call ‘Latin’ has emerged everywhere football is played near the equator; ‘resting on the ball’ is a vital skill when most matches are held in sweltering conditions.

Detroit City FC’s style, to this point in its young history, has been based around winning physical challenges, pressing opponents high and hard up the pitch, and running straight at goal. It’s possible to see this approach as an emotional outgrowth of the energy brought by Northern Guard – the Guard works itself into a froth of love and rage as kickoff approaches, so it seems natural that the Boys in Rogue burst from the blocks in a berzerker frenzy, chasing the ball with wild-eyed fervor.

I’d argue, though, that the style was much more deeply influenced by the club’s original home, beloved Estadio CassTecha. Even in its later years, the Cass Tech field was terribly narrow and intractably lumpy. The tight confines meant that midfield congestion was constant, and the unreliable surface repaid City’s hard running with turnovers and odd-man breaks galore. If an opponent tried to get pretty, they’d find a traffic jam in midfield and a world of frustration with the ball at their feet. Northern Guard delighted in giving no respite, in grinding on subtler opponents until they concentration wavered. All the pieces fit together wonderfully.

The move to Keyworth Stadium has been a resounding success in every way except on the field. I’d argue that City’s on-field failures are at least partially down to porting that very direct, balls-to-the-wall pressing style to a completely different physical reality at Keyworth. The narrow, knobbly field is no longer doing half the work of turning the ball over for us, and so subtly the math starts to shift in the players’ minds – the turnover that happened once every three sprints starts to happen once every 12, and holy God in heaven it’s hot, and is the midfield stepping too or they’re just gonna play right through us again, fuuuuuuuuuuh. The lobbed long ball for the speedy forward to run down now skids on the fast surface and runs through to the keeper. Our berzerkers are loose, still crazed, their blood still stirring, but now in a world that expects and rewards nuance and cleverness.Detroit City FC’s style was a rational response to the physical reality of the ‘Cass & City’ era. What style best fits the new reality of Keyworth Stadium? Watch this space.

Northern Guard Supporters (NGS) love Detroit City FC and the community we represent. However, this is about more than just a soccer team in Detroit…

I’ve been involved with community building and organizing in different ways for the last 10-15 years. The majority of my organizing has involved building bridges across race and culture. However, it has extended beyond this. In my experience, community building can be a messy process. There are a lot of community dynamics, years of history, conflicting interests, and more to consider when you are trying to pull different communities to discover and build on common goals and interests they have. You often have to navigate a lot of personalities that can carry what some might minimize as “baggage.” I would simply say that people (and communities) have wounds that need to be considered, some that need to be healed, but never need to be ignored. Often the hurt is wrapped up into complex relations pertaining to power, privilege, and oppression. However, it is possible to build equitable bridges; it just takes time and patience. From my experience, developing community is fundamentally about spreading love. It is about creating a collective identity that embraces those within that community. By this, I don’t mean we should hold hands and sing “Kumbaya.” Spreading love isn’t synonymous with passivity from my perspective. Now, there’s nothing wrong with holding hands and singing Kumbaya if you fancy it, but in my opinion, it’s not always pragmatic because it doesn’t appeal to everyone and doesn’t always prepare you for what can often be a cold world. Love can be tough, it’s not always “soft.”

In years past, I’ve experienced organizations, workplaces, and departments request my presence to help them build community, usually after conflict. They usually want to throw some money for a “diversity training” session so they can check it off their list after HR (or whomever) recommended it. Unfortunately, I had many colleagues who willingly built their careers off of doing this. They would receive big checks for conducting diversity training, knowing damn well that the issue wasn’t going to be adequately addressed by doing what they were doing. Some might not have realized it. However, you can’t build community by writing a check for a training session. You just can’t. Conflict in a community is usually deep. You can’t adequately resolve it in an hour or two. Building community is a longer and messier process. However, it is a more rewarding process that develops a strong foundation if done right. If this is done out of love for community rather than to profit and/or check it off a list of diversity requirements, it will more likely last. You have to cultivate community by spreading love thoughout. Like I said, love isn’t opposed to being tough. Just ask a mother with a few rug rats acting up.

I don’t mean to impose my beliefs on anyone. However, as a Christian, when I think of love I often turn to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. It provides me a necessary “list of love”:

It is patient

It is kind

It does not envy

It does not boast

It is not proud

It is not self-seeking

It is not easily angered

It does not keep record of wrongs

It does not delight in evil

It rejoices in the truth

It always protects

It always trusts

It always has hope

It always perseveres

Detroit City FC and the Northern Guard Supporters are engaging in building community in the midst of years of community conflict in the Detroit region. We’ve bumped heads in Metro Detroit in multiple ways for years, particularly across class and racial lines. Sports can be used as a catalyst to build community across multiple lines. Soccer, with popularity that extends globally, has particular potential in being a catalyst for this. The sport alone won’t do it though. The economy it generates alone won’t do it. Artificially manufacturing a Detroit sports team can’t fix us either, socially or economically. We need to build community through slow, steady, and intentional doses of love. My inclination, having recently stepped into the Northern Guard Supporters family, is that the above explanation in my “list of love” is exactly what we (NGS) are about. I don’t mean to suggest that everyone is Christian because we are not. I’ve met people of multiple faiths and those without any. We are open and accepting to all. Unless, of course, you like to sacrifice children or something. In that case, we’ll happily bury you alive up to your shoulders with your head sticking out of the center of the pitch at Keyworth (smirk.) The truth is, we are bonded in our love for Le Rouge before, during, and after the match and that is what matters. In order to understand what this means,though, we have to consider what Le Rouge is about beyond being a semi-professional soccer club on the rise. In addition to reading what I’ve shared here, we can rejoice in learning about our uniqueness over a pint of City ale. It’s not that we don’t see our differences because there certainly are many of them. It’s that we accept those differences and embrace them.

Due to these many differences within NGS, there might be things that some Supporters do not understand about other Supporters. However, give it time as we step into that darkness and shine our light on one another. We greet one another with love, although some of us might express it differently than others. For example, one guy I met grunted. It was strange, but it was love man, it was love. A special kind of grunt it was. From the outside of NGS, it is easy to see an intimidating mob of skulls, smoke, flags, drums, horns, yelling as we’re coming your way. We are a festive bunch and certainly, a good amount of us use……festive and brightly colorful language (smirk.) We also have creative ways to express that we curse a bit (smirk.) I encourage those aspiring NGS folk to step in as you are. For those who’ve already stepped into NGS, it is important for us to not lose focus of what we are about at our core. I certainly don’t speak for everyone. The fact is I’m one of the new guys around here. I have many miles to walk to reach the 500 we chant about walking for our club. However, I do believe in the relatively short time that I’ve been a part of this family that I’ve been able to gauge the heartbeat of it. Let me lend a perspective on that based on a few items from the “list of love” above.

We are patient: This group has patience. We have no problem taking the longer route to do something if it will build a better foundation. This goes hand and hand with the creed of Detroit City FC. Developing a strong, community-focused club takes patience. It’s just like when my wife uses a slow-cooker. It might make me antsy and induce my mouth to water as she’s cooking, but I’ll tell you what… this woman knows how to cook and the slow cooker does the trick baby! DCFC knows how to slow cook as well. We make sure the right ingredients are there as the pot is brewing. That’s why you saw what you saw at our Keyworth opener on 5/21/2016. It looked nice. It smelled nice. I can still taste it. We absolutely shattered our current league’s regular season attendance record because we did it the right way. We used the slow cooker. You see, there was love for the community from the jump when our five owners came together in that little dive bar in Detroit. They knew it would take patience. Love is patient. Community is love. Love perseveres

We are kind: Northern Guard Supporters are some of the kindest people I’ve connected to in recent years. The other day, I was just delivering news to one of the leaders of NGS that a young girl playing soccer for Hamtramck HS had encountered a very bad injury in a recent match. There was immediate concern, sympathy, and interest in pooling our resources as Supporters to help somebody who (despite never having met them) we consider a part of our extended family (possible fundraiser on the way.) Our players have the same kindness. Hell, one of our Detroit City players even serves as the coach for the team that young girl plays for. Papa George loves the kids! Again, I understand from the outside-in, that at times during the match we might not seem friendly. However, please understand that we’re big boys and girls who have passion for our club and express it in our particular way. The ownership of DCFC are similar in this love they carry. From what I’ve seen, a fundamental philosophy of our club’s growth is one of smothering the community (Detroit) it represents with love, kindness, and compassion. And yes, Detroit does include Hamtramck despite what some territorial folk might say. We’ve had too many decades of territorial conflict in our region. With love, we can rejoice in the truth, but we don’t keep record of wrongs of the past. It’s time to embrace a more equitable regionalism now for the sake of us all. DCFC is providing an example on how to do that without leaving communities that are most vulnerable behind. It is a movement grounded in that kindness and compassion.

We do not envy: Northern Guard Supporters do not envy. For example, we do not have resentment for clubs who might have more resources. We take pride in embracing the spirit of Detroit and working collectively to build something from the ground up. This isn’t just a money-making venture. This isn’t just something to entertain the masses. It’s not that we don’t want our club to grow economically, produce jobs for and entertain the community it represents. It already entertains. In time, it will produce more jobs and stimulate the economy even greater. When those jobs and economic activity comes, it will be more stable because it won’t be rug that can easily be pulled up from under us. It will have a broad support base that makes it more difficult to pull up from under. Money is useful, but big money, in and of itself, from a couple of people can’t build a solid foundation for the club and community. Why? As I said before, you cannot develop community by simply cutting a check. As a club, we take pride in the fact that when you come to a Detroit City match, you will sit on a rouge bench painted by one of us or even one of the owners of our club (they grabbed brushes too, ya know.) We don’t envy a club built off a big check. Rather than envy, we respect and appreciate those higher-tier clubs who have built themselves up by embracing the community and supporter’s culture that comes with it. Furthermore, we don’t envy the league that any club is in. Despite popular acceptance of the corporately written and guarded narrative, MLS is not the mountain top. Personally, I have nothing against MLS. I think Detroit City can help it quite a bit. However, there is not envy there. For us, Detroit City is the mountain top and the mountain top is growing. We love our club because we love our community and this mountain top will climb as our community expands, standing on the shoulder of giants (ie. the community)

We protect our community: The Northern Guard and broader Detroit City supporters love our community. Therefore, we protect our community. As we were hauling wood and painting benches on a Sunday afternoon at Keyworth a week prior to the opener, I asked one of our club’s owners, “I’ve been very involved in community building and organizing for years. If there is anything more I can do to support the club in that capacity, please let me know.” His response was that Supporters be sure that the surrounding neighborhood is taken care of. One aspect of this was on match days. As the Northern Guard and broader supporters, we might indulge in a few beverages before, during and after the match. There is acknowledgement that this can increase the likelihood of a few knuckleheads doing what knuckleheads do while walking back through the neighborhoods. Moral boundaries can shift under the influence and people can treat a neighborhood in a way that they would likely not treat their own. They temporarily forget that this is a part of their community. After the home opener, I personally witnessed a Northern Guard Supporter reminding us all to make sure we clean up after ourselves. Not to leave a mess of the neighborhood by littering. We love our club and we love the community we represent. Therefore, we make sure to protect it. This is grounded in love. We will have trust in our community by embracing it. He have hope in our community. We have a responsibility to our community. That’s love.

I could go on and on and this would be a lengthy perspective to cover all fourteen points of love that I mentioned early in this reflection. Who knows, maybe I will write a book about it one day as a garner more journeys with the Guard and DCFC. That’s not the point of this though. The point of this all is that what we have is quite different than what people generally enjoy in professional soccer in the U.S. and elsewhere. What we have is quite different from what others have in U.S. professional sports overall. This club will be professional one day. This club will be a top tier club in the American soccer pyramid one day. This club will lift itself through hard work and we surely will lift up whatever league we find ourselves in at any time. However, this club is not self-seeking. Our concern isn’t focused on money and status (which league we are in.) With hard work and community commitment, that will come. It is a must that the community is lifted up because only then, does the club get lifted. Why? We are one. We are the community. We are the club of the people.

In closing, to maintain my street cred as a Northern Guard Supporter, I must request that you kiss my arse. Okay, okay…now, give me a hug and let’s grab a pint.